The Stowaway
by CaptainSwanShipper
Summary: Captain Hook is back on his ship. Just as he's beginning to get back into the swing of things, he gets some unexpected visitors... Originally posted on my tumblr on Jan. 28th, 2013


_****__**THE STOWAWAY**_

Captain Hook was thrilled to be back on his ship. He'd missed the feeling of the ship gently rocking on the water as he pondered what his next move would be. The smell of the salty air also helped clear his head when the demons would come back to haunt him…so it was with a satisfied smile that he stepped aboard and went to investigate the rest of it to make sure that things were still in order.

As he wandered around, though, he occasionally caught the sounds of scraping and scratching below deck. He would hear it as he was moving around and it would pause when he did. Considering that he hadn't heard anything from Smee and the ship showed practically no signs of anyone having been on board in his absence, he didn't know what to make of it. He supposed he ought to investigate, but perhaps it was only a rat of some sort, which meant it was unlikely he'd find it. He'd have to find a cat or dog to hunt down the rodent…

While he was thinking this, however, Hook could have sworn he'd heard a…sneeze? And it didn't sound like an animal. With some relatively quick thinking, Hook decided to pretend to leave the ship so that whoever…or whatever was stowing away would think that they were safe enough to move around again. Perhaps they'd even emerge on the deck. Deciding this was the current best course of action, he made sure that his footsteps could be heard as he headed toward the ramp which would lead him down to the dock. Instead of leaving, he chose to sit on one of the wooden boxes next to the exit. Glad that for once it wasn't cloudy or raining, Hook sat back and studiously listened for the sounds coming from the ship.

Within 5 minutes of his sitting down, there were distinct sounds of something large scrabbling around below him. Then some shuffling, and what sounded like footsteps on the steps leading to the deck. Hook prepared to face off against whoever had dared to invade his sanctuary. As he slowly stood up, though, a voice shouted at him from the deck. Recognizing it, he turned cautiously and regarded the trio approaching his ship.

"Hook! Where is Henry?" demanded the blonde woman angrily striding down the dock toward his ship, her father stoically following behind as her mother's gaze darted from her husband to her daughter, and then the ship.

"What makes you think I would know his whereabouts?" the pirate asked lazily as he crossed his arms and quirked an eyebrow at her.

"You're working with Cora and Regina. That's enough," Charming commented.

Hook's brows furrowed and he scowled at the other man's tone of voice. "I ___used_ to work with them. Once they got what they wanted, they went off on their merry way."

At this point, Emma was almost at the top of the ramp. Within a matter of seconds, she was face-to-face with Hook. He didn't back down. In fact, for a few seconds he was tempted to lean in closer to her. But he knew that would be a bad idea. For one thing, her father was right behind her. And for another, she was clearly angry and concerned about her son. He may have enjoyed banter, but he knew when not to cross a line. Otherwise, he would never have survived long enough to become captain of his own ship.

"Where is Henry?" Emma asked, scrutinizing his face-and especially his eyes-to determine his honesty.

"I haven't the slightest notion, lass," the pirate replied, knowing the truth of the statement would be clear to her from his face. For whatever reason, she was always able to tell when he was lying…or not. It seemed to him that he was one of the few people whose lies and truths she could easily detect.

Emma's gaze held his for a few seconds longer, and then she turned to her parents. "He's telling the truth."

"Now, Emma, you've said that before and…well, are you sure?" Charming asked her, recalling the number of times she'd been mistaken in her assessments.

The blonde woman scowled at her father. "I know I've been wrong before. But for some reason, I haven't been wrong when it comes to him," she answered, tilting her head in the dark-haired man's direction. At the pronouncement, Hook's mouth tilted in a slight grin. Charming noticed and glared, but didn't comment. Emma turned back to the pirate and skewered him with her gaze.

"If you see or hear anything about him, I expect you to tell one of us. Or there will be consequences," she warned him, then whirled and headed back down the ramp. As she walked away, her parents gave him suspicious looks, then followed. When their backs were turned, he allowed himself to admire the view of Emma walking away from him. He couldn't help but grin because it was such an admirable view. But when she reached the bottom of the ramp and walked down the dock, he turned to go back onto his ship. There was still the matter of what exactly was skulking around his ship…

Frowning, Hook decided that whatever it was wouldn't be showing itself again any time soon, not after hearing their voices. So he would have to find it himself.

Not even bothering to be quiet about his movements, the pirate walked over to the steps leading into the hull. Keeping his ears open for any possibility of an ambush, he walked down, scanning every inch in view to see if anything was off. When he reached the base of the stairs, he looked around and noticed that everything was in place…but there were plenty of hiding places. Leaning against the wall, his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he continued swinging his gaze from one side of the ship to the other, scanning for something amiss.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hook caught a flash of something of a lighter color than the shadows dart behind some boxes. Casually sauntering toward the boxes, he made sure to stay out of the line of sight. It helped that his wardrobe made him blend into the darkness.

Sneaking around the opposite side of the boxes, Hook heard a gasp and a rush of movement coming in his direction. Reaching out as whoever it was tried to run past him, the pirate was able to snag the intruder's collar. Yanking them back, he was quick to take notice of the height difference between them. A drop of incredulity snuck into his blood. It couldn't be…

But when he looked down into the boy's face, he knew it was true. Hook stared at the child, incapable of determining what exactly to do next…

"Uh…Hi," the boy said with a shaky smile tinged with fear.

___Bloody…__****__**hell**_. What was he going to do now?


End file.
